“In the first book you will find everything that relates to hygiene, and to the preservation from, and correction of, distempers peculiar to the various ages, seasons, temperaments, and so forth; also the powers and use of the different articles of food, as is set forth in the chapter of contents. In the second is explained the whole doctrine of fevers, an account of certain matters relating to them being premised, such as excrementitious discharges, critical days, and other appearances, and concluding with certain symptoms which are the concomitants of fevers. The third book relates to topical affections, beginning from the crown of the head, and descending down to the nails of the feet. The fourth book treats of those complaints which are external and exposed to view, and are not limited to one part of the body, but affect various parts. Also, of intestinal worms and dracunculi. The fifth treats of the wounds and bites of venomous animals; also of the distemper called hydrophobia, and of persons bitten by dogs which are mad, and by those which are not mad; and also of persons bitten by men. Afterwards it treats of deleterious substances, and of the preservatives from them. In the sixth book is contained everything relating to surgery, both what relates to the fleshy parts, such as the extraction of weapons, and to the bones, which comprehends fractures and dislocations. In the seventh is contained an account of the properties of all medicines, first of the simple, then of the compound, particularly of those which I have mentioned in the preceding six books, and more especially the greater, and as it were, celebrated preparations; for I did not think it proper to treat of all these articles promiscuously, lest it should occasion confusion, but so that any person looking for one or more of the distinguished preparations might easily find it. Towards the end are certain things connected with the composition of medicines, and of those articles which may be substituted for one another, the whole concluding with an account of weights and measures.” The most valuable and interesting part of this work is the sixth book. The whole treatise is chiefly a compilation from the great physicians who preceded Paulus, but the sixth book contains some original matter. This great Byzantine physician must have possessed considerable skill in surgery. His famous treatise on midwifery is now lost; it procured for him amongst the Arabs the title of “the Obstetrician,” and entitles him to be called the first of the teachers of the accoucheur’s art. Celebrated equally in the Arabian and Western schools, he exercised an enormous influence in the development of the medical arts. Throughout the Middle Ages he maintained his great popularity, and his surgical teaching was the basis of that of Abulcasis, which afforded to Europe in the Middle Ages her best surgical knowledge. He was the first writer who took notice of the cathartic properties of rhubarb.[536]